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Monday, November 1, 2010

Dual wielding: Nerf Barricade RV-10s

It's like a mirror..yet not.

The main appeal of the Barricade RV-10 (the upcoming worst-kept-secret-ever blaster), is the fact it is a hand held semi-automatic blaster that can shoot a decent 10 rounds without requiring any priming. This in turn lends itself to the muchas desirable dual wielding John Woo movie style, which is just a crazy fan favourite amongst.. well pretty much everyone.

The main disadvantage of the Barricade RV-10 is the ridiculous noise that comes from the electric flywheel firing mechanism.

Now.. comes the test we've all been waiting for..how does it feel dual wielding TWO Barricade RV-10s?

Barricade's are pretty light; they're a bit clumsy to hold and aren't uber comfortable but they're not heavy and unwieldy, so dual wielding isn't a problem. The biggest issue is the fact the on/off switch is on the left hand side of the blaster, made for a right hander to be able to switch on with their thumb. For a left hander, you'd have to use your index finger; and if you're a right hander but using the Barricade in your left hand.. you'll probably feel like a goober flicking the switch.

The trigger however feels pretty easy to fire with your weak hand, and I found accuracy isn't too bad either:)

I like my blasters to match:)

If you all up have 20 rounds to work with, it's not a bad amount given the Barricades are relatively compact and easy to wave around. For more fire power, you may prefer using a Stampede in one of your hands (probably your strong arm) instead; alternatively the Rapidfire might be another good choice?

However if we're talking about using two of the SAME blaster; the Barricade is pretty good. I found I could jump around easily without having to worry about putting scratches and dents in the walls (like I did with the Stampede)

Ugh.. flywheels in stereo!!

Surprisingly, the noise from TWO Barricades isn't that bad; they sort of drown each other out so it's no more irritating than just having one activated. Opponents are going to hear you with one blaster anyway, so having another won't really change the equation; ACTUALLY to the untrained ear you can't even tell if it is one or two Barricades from the noise alone so that might prove to be a tactical advantage? No? Yeah probably not:P

One of the real issues with the Barricade is it is not an instantaneous power up; it takes a good few seconds for the flywheels to wind up and be at maximum velocity to fire.

I love SGNerr's trigger mod, but from the video, the moment the trigger is released, the motor stops and the flywheel slows down, requiring you to activate it again by powering it up again thru the trigger to fire the next shot.

The higher capacity voltage does compensate any power loss, but all and all, it's still pretty noisy regardless (just sounds more like an electric scooter/pee wee motorbike instead of a constant..blender sound!) of what you do.

There's nothing stealthy about the Barricade- If you're going akimbo, you might as well scream something out or play your battle theme tune or whatever because they'll hear you coming a mile off with these blasters. Guess that's why it's called the "Barricade"- they already know you're there:)

I admit the dual wielding of two Barricades is a lot of fun. Having two blasters facing multiple targets and going nuts is probably the best application for them; if you were facing them at the same target you'd probably get similar results with a Rapidfire AS-20 on its own.

They're noisy as hell and take to long to prime for when you want a shot (thus alerting your target of your intentions). Still.. I guess it'd be the same if you fired up a chainsaw...:P

A toy blaster resource; from a kidult's perspective living in an Australian inner city apartment. Focusing on out- of- the- box foam dart, laser tag and water guns with the odd two player co-op game thrown in for good measure:)